Rules
Heroica RPG basically operates through posts to a message forum, but it has a set of rules concerning battles and abilities to keep the game consistent and fair to everyone playing. Player Character Creation An aspiring hero needs to fill the following form and post it into the Hero Statistics topic. When it is done, the character must be introduced at the Heroica Hall topic in order to be officially eligible for quests and effectively play the game. *'Picture:' Build your own hero as a minifigure and add their picture in avatar size (100x100 pixels). *'Name & Player:' The character’s name should fit the fantasy setting. *'Age, gender & race:' You can choose any fantasy race, including something you made up yourself. *'Job Class:' Choose one of the basic six classes (Barbarian, Cleric, Knight, Mage, Ranger or Rogue; see Job Classes). *'Level:' All heroes start from Level 1. *'Power:' Write in your base power, i.e. your level and your weapon power added together. *'Defense:' If you are a Knight, write in your defensive power (SP) here. *'Health:' Write in your current and maximum health (see Job Classes). *'Ether:' If you start out as a Cleric or a Mage, write in your current and maximum ether (see Job Classes). *'Gold': All heroes start with 10 pieces of gold. *'Equipment:' List your equipped weapon, shield and artefacts here. All heroes start with one weapon suitable to their job class that has the attack power (WP) of 3. Shields and artefacts are listed here too. *'Inventory:' List your other items here. Each job class also gets two specific items (see Items): **'Barbarian:' a Potion and a bottle of Mead. **'Cleric:' a Potion and a Remedy. **'Knight:' a Potion and a Shield with the defensive power (SP) of 2. **'Mage:' a Potion and an elemental Gem of their choice (see Elements). **'Ranger:' a Potion and a Smoke Bomb. **'Rogue:' a Potion and a vial of Venom. Quest System The champions of Heroica spend their time in the famed Heroica Hall of Eubric Freeport, where they can chat amongst themselves and hear rumours around the world. The Hall is also where they can embark on quests with varying goals, such as finding a specific item or a person, defeating a monster or fighting a group of enemies. Completing a quest will benefit a hero with either gold, extra levels of experience or rare items. Different factions within Eubric will also favour heroes that participate on the quests they have pitched. Each quest has different requirements that the heroes need to fill. Usually a quest will require the heroes to form a party of varying size. Sometimes a quest is only available to heroes of a specific level of experience or class. The host of the quest (called the Quest Master or QM) will decide which applicants can participate into the mission. The quests take place in their own topics open only to the heroes chosen for the quest. The players on a quest may not post in-character elsewhere (e.g. Heroica Hall, Marketplace or Training Room topics). One of the party members is assigned as the Party Leader by the QM. The Party Leader’s duty is to keep the other party members in order, and divide the found treasures among the party. During a quest, the QM will present the party various options on how to advance. The Party Leader announces the party’s choices after appropriate discussion. The party may encounter traps, locks, shortcuts and dead ends along the quest, so they must be prepared for anything. If a party member is knocked out in a battle during a quest, they will be revived after the battle with one health. But if the whole party is defeated, the quest fails and the heroes return to Heroica Hall without a reward. The quest can also fail by the QM’s jurisdiction. If you want to host a quest yourself, please make sure you have a firm grasp of the game mechanics and a few quests under your belt before learning the ropes from the Quest Masters’ Lounge topic. Battle System During quests, the party of heroes encounter various monsters and other adversaries that they must battle. These battles are initiated by the Quest Master. Choosing Battle Actions Once the battle starts, the Party Leader decides in what order the heroes act. All members of the party choose their desired action and target, and what range they will fight in. If a player doesn’t choose their target within 24 hours after being prompted to do so, the Quest Master will choose for them. Available battle actions depend on the job class of the player, but most classes can attack physically with or without a weapon (only sages are unable to attack physically). Other, job-restricted options include casting spells, healing and fleeing. Rows The players can choose between two rows in which to fight. *'Front row:' Heroes attack with full power and receive full damage. *'Back row:' Only ranged weapons, spells and healing will have full effect, other attacks have halved power, but heroes also receive halved damage (rounded up). Battle Die The Quest Master will roll a six-sided die for each of the players’ actions. The die usually contains following options, but all job classes contain variations to them: #SHIELD: The hero uses the Shield Skill unique to their class. #CRITICAL HIT: The hero attacks with strength equal to double of their weapon power added to their level. (e.g. WP 3 x 2 + Level 2 = 8 damage) #HIT: The hero attacks the target with strength equal to their weapon power added to their level. (e.g. WP 3 + Level 2 = 5 damage) #MISS: Nothing happens. #DAMAGE: The hero is struck with the opponent’s attack. #SPECIAL DAMAGE: The hero is struck with the opponent’s special skill. Items Optionally, the hero can choose to use an item at their disposal instead of rolling a die. These items include potions, bombs and scrolls. Using items is not affected by distance, so it is beneficiary to use them from the back row. Free Hits All enemies that are not targeted by an attack by anyone in a round of battle get a Free Hit after the heroes have acted, causing damage to one of the heroes. If there is one enemy that wasn’t targeted, it will damage the first hero in the order of action, if there’s another it will target the second hero etc. Using items such as bombs and scrolls on an enemy does not negate it's Free Hit. Neither do attacks from evoker's elemental spirits, necromancer's undead minions or Decamon drafter's card monsters. If several enemies get a Free Hit on the same hero, their attacks are combined, which means that the hero's Shield Power (SP) is only taken into a count once. For example, when two Level 5 enemies attack a hero with 5 SP, their combined attacks allow 5 damage to surpass the defense. This way even low level enemies have a chance of damaging a hero with high SP. Ether Clerics can choose to restore health their allies and mages can cast magic spells, but both of these actions are dependent on ether. One healing or casting depletes the hero’s ether by one, and once ether reaches zero, the hero can no longer heal or cast spells. Ether can be regained by consuming tonics or resting outside of battle with a bedroll. End of Battle If enemies remain after the first round of turns, the players will choose new targets and actions, and a second round begins. The battle ends when either all the opponents or all the heroes are defeated, or one side has fled. Fleeing Escaping a battle is only possible through using items like Smoke Bomb or Feather of Flight, or through the "Flee" job trait available to rogues and some other classes. When a player flees, they will gain no experience from the battle. Sometimes it is possible to restart the battle that the party has fled from, but it depends on the QM. Defeat If a hero’s health is depleted to zero during battle, they are unable to participate into it. Only certain items can revive fallen heroes during the battle, but they will automatically be revived with one health once the battle is over. If the entire party is defeated in a battle, the quest fails and the heroes will automatically return to Heroica Hall. Victory After a victorious battle, all heroes still standing will gain experience. Some opponents also drop gold and items that are shared among the party as determined by the Party Leader. Leveling Up Gaining a level increases the hero’s battle power, health and ether by one. Heroes of different level earn different amount of experience from victorious battles. *'Level 1-9:' one full level per battle *'Level 10-19:' 1/2 of a level per battle *'Level 20-29:' 1/3 of a level per battle *'Level 30-39:' 1/4 of a level per battle *'Level 40 onwards:' 1/5 of a level per battle Changing Job Classes At Level 15, the hero gains access to the advanced job classes, which combine the powers of two basic job classes. At Level 30, if certain special requirements are met, the hero can move onto expert job classes. At Level 40, the veteran job classes can be unlocked if the hero has successfully completed 10 quests or carries the item “Veteran’s Badge”. And finally at Level 50, the hero unlocks the master job classes. The hero can change a job class (except the basic one) in-between quests at the Training Room topic. Second Character For most of the game, players are restricted to one hero each, so if they want to change their character they have to start from scratch. However, if a player has participated in 15 quests (no matter if they are successful, failed or cancelled) OR hosted at least 5 quests, the player can create a second character without losing their original hero. The character starts from Level 1 with a basic job class. Both characters are played independently and can even participate on the same quests. Category:Stats Category:Battle